News

Alesis unveils new iPod audio equipment

By Charles Starrett ● Thursday, January 24, 2008

Alesis, has introduced three new iPod-compatible audio products, including a new PA system and two new recording devices. The TransActive Mobile is a portable PA system with an integrated iPod Dock. It features features a rechargeable 12-hour battery, aluminum construction, a high-efficiency amplifier, the ability to use music from the iPod as a backing track for attached instruments, and four inputs for connecting microphones, electric or bass guitars, keyboards or CD/MP3 players. TransActive Mobile also includes a professional-quality microphone, and is available now for $599.

The Alesis iMultiMix 16 USB is a tabletop mixer and recorder that features 100 28–bit digital effects, a built–in limiter, and an integrated iPod dock with control wheel transport controls for direct–to–iPod recording. Other features include iPod playback w/mixing capability, four high-gain mic/line preamps, 48V phantom power, 16-Bit / 44.1kHz and 48kHz recording to computer, two guitar mic/line inputs, aux sends and returns, and a 3-band per channel EQ with high/low shelving and mid band pass/reject. The iMultiMix 16 USB includes Steinberg Cubase LE 4 recording software, and will be available in Q2 for $799.

Finally, the Alesis MultiPort is a compact standalone recorder for the iPod. It features built-in level meters, headphone monitoring, integrated iPod controls, balanced inputs, 1/4” stereo outputs, and phantom power. It can also playback from the iPod while recording, and is compatible with iPod classic, fifth-generation iPods, and second- and third-generation iPod nanos. The Alesis MultiPort will also be available in Q2; pricing has yet to be determined.

Comments

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Before we get excited about the new products from Alesis, I think I’d like to hear from people actually using these in the field…especially since I cannot seem to find an iMultimix8 that will work properly.

I ordered an Alesis iMultimix8 specifically so I could write about it for the second edition of Podcasting for Dummies. My exepctations were pretty high as I use the MultiMix8 FireWire and have been extremely happy with its performance. When my first iMultiMix arrived, I had it out of the box and running without a problem…until I noticed a high pitched whine in my headphones. This whine was still present when I disconnected all connections save for the USB and my headphones. In the test recordings, the whine shows up as underlying static, something that is absent when recording with the Multimix8 FireWire. So, I boxed the new device up, shipped it back to the vendor, and received my replacement Alesis iMultimix8…

The whine was still present in the replacement model.

It appears that the whine is removed if you disable the iPod option. If the iPod is docked and playing, however, the iPod signal bleeds through regardless if iPod to CTRL ROOM or iPod to MIX are activated or not, and regardless if you have the output volume for the iPod turned all the way down.

I was surprised to encounter this glitch in the first Alesis, but this second encounter is a real disappointment. The Alesis Tech Support preferred to blame the computer, suggested I run the board through a hub (which is contradicted in their documentation), and finally cast suspicion on the USB cable it came with. I would agree if it were one unit, but not two in a row. As i tested the replacement on two different machines running two different OS with two different USB cables all with the same disappointing results, I think Alesis needs to slow down and rethink their design.

The iMultiMix8 has been getting its fair share of advertising and hype, but I still have not met anyone using it. I’m curious to see who else out there is using an iMultiMix and see if they have similar experiences. While disappointed in the Alesis iMultiMix, I would still recommend the MultiMix8 FireWire to new users based on its performance. It has not let me down, and I have experience no problems as earlier documented.

Posted by Charles Starrett on January 24, 2008 at 9:21 PM (CST)

1

One important piece of advice, don’t buy this piece of junk! They took a gimmick idea and ran with it without making it work properly. I thought it would be nice to use with Mainstage and record live. I was wrong.

Along with the issue noted above one gets DC offset in everything that records to the iPod. Also, why didn’t they allow the iPod to be charged from the dock and read from the dock?

On the dock itself it is really sloppy getting the iPod plugged in if you don’t have a clear view.

For sure if you send this in to Alesis for repair it will come back the same—it’s a defective design. Tech support wants to find fault elsewhere. Big joke. Anybody care to get a class-action suit going?